Why you will not find politics on my blog

This election season has been really challenging for me. The divisiveness of the dialogue & overall influence of social media makes it feel like I'm constantly hearing about it.

I will not talk about it here, because I have my very clear perspective, and you have yours. Sharing my philosophy on my blog will not influence you. This is a place where I share my life, financial & otherwise. The trials & tribulations of working & parenting & budgeting. Oh, and getting in shape. Who could forget that? ;-)

As a woman with a large extended family in Iran (some of whom are Muslims, many of whom are Catholic), I will simply say that this is a deeply personal topic for me. It is not just a debate that we have on Facebook or when you throw up your blog posts & assume the people reading don't have their own opinions & perspectives, or come with their own beliefs. I have tried to keep that in mind when discussing controversial topics. My deeply personal topic & opinions are not yours, and I will respect that & not force feed you my diatribe on why your candidate is not my candidate.

I will continue to blog about all of my normal array of topics, and we can share recipes & support each other, because that's what I love about the outlet we have here.

So, with that, I'm off to take the kids to swimming lessons in the hot California sun! Hoping it cools off soon. And, Adele was mind blowing. Truly amazing. Absolutely a phenomenal show. So happy I went!!!

Adele & the nanny saga continues

We are still searching for a nanny, and I'm so over it! I thought we had it solved last week, and . . . nope. That nanny ended up needing to go to China for 8 weeks. I've contacted 84 people so far, done 16 phone screens, 8 in person interviews, and no one has been a match for our hours, location, & requirements (having a car, able to help with homework). This is really a pretty straightforward job, and we don't have any hard to fill requirements like, must teach the kids Portuguese or anything. ;-) It's also a very well paid job! But, the candidates who are a potential fit are also typically pretty flaky (you guessed it, college students.) I have an interview in a few hours, so fingers crossed.

What else is on the list today? I slept 10 hours last night - I had an extremely challenging, stressful & demanding work week. It was. . . rough. I wasn't sleeping at night due to anxiety over the work situation. Anywho, I'm very happy it's the weekend. :-)

On to today! My parents arrive tomorrow night to help us with the kids for next week, so it's (as usual) a full list of activities:

• Call with potential nanny
• Meet coworker at 5:30 to head to the Adele show. Now, I love, love, love Adele. But, I'm so tired I'm not sure I will really enjoy the show. I also am not in love with spending more time with anyone remotely associated with my work. That said, the tickets were free, so . . . Adele it is.
• Make menu for the week (needs to be much more robust, given we'll have four adults this week)
• Make schedule for the week - lots of things happening 
• Get some gardening done
• Work out
• List a few things on eBay
• Make a Costco list
• Go to Costco
• Library

If I get all of that done, life will be great! :-)

What about you? What are you hoping to accomplish this weekend?

Weekly Budget Recap (7/18-7/24/16)

I track *all* of our spending, but find that tracking it at a weekly level & reporting back to you fine friends gives me even more insight & accountability.

This was a bit of a "getting ready for school & sports" week, as well as a week (for the first time ever) with two sitters! So here goes.

Monday - 7/18

• $25.44 - 4 pair of slip in shin guards. The boys have a lot of soccer, we sometimes lose them, and also. . . I like to wash them between wears. They get a little "slippery".
• $17.38 - new goalie gloves for Nick.
• -$232.40 - refund for morning camp care that we didn't use a couple of weeks ago
• -$80 - refund for morning camp care that we didn't use this week

Tuesday - 7/19

• $70 - sitter. We got free concert tickets, parking passes, food/& drinks to see Barenaked Ladies at a winery

Wednesday - 7/20 - no spend day

Thursday - 7/21 - no spend day

Friday - 7/22

• $25 7 Eleven gift card for my nephew (he and his girlfriend take "walking dates" to the 7 Eleven
• $25 - cash for the rest of nephew's birthday, for his college account

Saturday - 7/23

• $50 - anniversary gift for my parents
• $36.43 - Costco, groceries
• $55 - a sitter so M & I could attend his kid free work barbecue. On a Saturday. :-(
• $4.04 - a watermelon at the market. But, mostly to break a large bill so we could pay the sitter.
• $58.31 - gas

Sunday - 7/24

• $40 - swimming lessons for the kids
• $25.62 - school supplies
• $43.96 - new Sonicare toothbrush heads
• $13.71 - produce stand. Half a flat of strawberries, mini cucumber, wheat lavosh bread, radishes
• $6.23 - pasta was $.89 at the store (cheapest I've seen it for a while), so I stocked up
• $41.73 - two sunblocks for the kids to take to sleepaway camp, plus my favorite SPF70 facial moisturizer was on sale. I'm starting to get some serious sun damage from this California scene, so I need to get more aggressive with the face lotion
• $35.32 - gas for the other car
• $7.99 - kiwi, from Costco
• $94.83 - a lot of wine. My parents will be staying with us for a week.

Given the childcare/camp refunds, we netted out with a total of $363.79. I'll take it! How about you? How did you do with your weekly spending?

Menu Plan Monday

With the bonus of Sunday as well. :-) Because, why not? My parents are arriving next Sunday, and I need to also start planning lunches (they will be at home with the kids), and dinners (2 more adults at each meal). May be a crazy week, but details on that in next week's update.

• Sunday - homemade chicken pizza. Cheese for the kids, chicken pesto for the adults. I made homemade tomato sauce for the kids pizza
• Monday - barbecued burgers & tortellini
• Tuesday - Spaghetti and meatballs, with homemade tomato sauce (tomatoes from the garden)
• Wednesday - I have a late work dinner, but the kids & M will be having leftover pizza
• Thursday - Tacos, chips & guacamole (drat, forgot to get avocado at the produce stand)
• Friday - Leftovers, of whatever I can cobble together. If all else fails, "freezer dinner", which is where I stand in front of the freezer and bake up a cookie sheet full of random things (last Friday it was breaded chicken, homemade taquitos, samosas from Trader Joes, etc). 
• Saturday - Probably homemade risotto, if the weather cools down a bit. If not, maybe calzone with homemade dough
• Sunday - not sure, but possibly salmon, salad, and an appetizer with my parents 

What about you? What's on your menu for the week? Any recipes to try out?

It's hot, I'm tired, & ready to relax!

The work barbecue ended up taking the majority of the day yesterday (ahhhh, a story for another day :-)), so I worked really hard yesterday late afternoon & today to get as much done as possible. Here's what I accomplished.

1. Sort lunches for the kids (our sitter for today doesn't cook)
2. 4-5 mile pace walk (training for my race in August)
3. 7 mile pace walk
4. Yoga
5. Strength workout
6. Menu plan
7. Wash sheets
8. Schedule for the week
9. Workout plans for the week
10. Clean closet
11. Return library books. A few are overdue - yikes.
12. Inventory freezer
13. Make lemon poppyseed muffins (and, find a recipe)
14. Use up all loose lemons in the fridge
15. Buy new running shoes
16. Return a few items to the outdoor mall
17. Buy school supplies

Not a perfectly marked off list, but I'll take it. I also made homemade hummus, ran to the produce stand, the grocery store, made homemade pizza dough for dinner tonight, and now I'm feeling out of energy. The nanny I had scheduled to interview this afternoon canceled & said that she accepted another job this afternoon. Drat. Finding a nanny is the bane of my existence. 

I also went through my pantry/fridge yesterday, and made a list of things I'd like to use up. I got a start on the lemons & almost used all of the poppy seeds making these lemon poppy seed muffins. I think they were more work than I'd normally put in for a muffin, and I liked them "okay". 

Things I want to use up:

• Lemons - (lemon poppy seed muffins)
• Two unopened tubs of Nutella
• Poppy seeds - (lemon poppy seed muffins)
• 1/2 a bag of quinoa
• two tubs of pesto unearthed from the freezer, from many, many batches ago
• 2/3 a bag of chia seeds
• 1/4 bag of Craisins
• An enormous quantity of baking chocolate, repurposed from random bars & gifts
• 2/3 bag of cashew pieces (so, better for baking/cooking vs snacking, as not entire cashews)
• A bag of dried pinto beans (I need to cook these & freeze them for tacos).
• 8 individual packs of almonds & trail mix
• 3 individual servings of honey peanut butter
• 1 1/2 boxes of orzo
• 3/4 a large box of stuffing

The nanny search continues, and I'll track my random food "things I want to use" list, and share any fun recipes that I discover along the way. If you have any recipes to share, please let me know! 

Finally, it's Saturday

I had big plans for a weekend without any major commitments (save for swimming lessons for the kids), but M forgot to mention a work barbecue today. So, sitter is now arranged, and half the day will be spent with his peers. I'll be honest & say that I look forward to relaxing weekends without major commitments, but . . . what can you do? :-)

Anyway, I have quite a bit I'd like to get done this weekend (shocking, really),  so here's my list:

1. Sort lunches for the kids (our sitter for today doesn't cook)
2. 4-5 mile pace walk (training for my race in August)
3. 7 mile pace walk
4. Yoga
5. Strength workout
6. Menu plan
7. Wash sheets
8. Schedule for the week
9. Workout plans for the week
10. Clean closet
11. Return library books. A few are overdue - yikes.
12. Inventory freezer
13. Make lemon poppyseed muffins (and, find a recipe)
14. Use up all loose lemons in the fridge
15. Buy new running shoes
16. Return a few items to the outdoor mall
17. Buy school supplies

I've realized lately that I really need the weekends to recharge, and in between social engagements (girls trip to Napa, family vacations, etc), I greatly enjoy the time to relax and get organized, so I can survive the work weeks. What about you? Do you like to be busy on weekends with plans, or spend that time on your own projects?

The time we ran out of food

This is a bit tongue in cheek (of course), as we have lots of meal options in the pantry/freezer. However, with the boys attending soccer camp this week through their club team, they are playing soccer 7 hours/day. I cannot describe the voraciousness of the appetites they've returned home with each day.

Yesterday I walked through the door & saw Sam with two pieces of fruit (a large apple, and a peach in each hand) & he was eating both of them. Juice was dripping down his arm (yes, I know, we will continue to work on manners when they are ravenous) & he was shaking with hunger. I've been packing big lunches, but apparently I need to up the amount of food I'm sending.

We also (for the first time ever!) ran out of our weekly purchase of milk. We're out of cheese, fruit of all kinds (save for the kiwi that no one has the patience to peel, apparently), most veggies (those that are snackable, at least), all of the hummus, anything that vaguely resembles a "snack", and most of our smoothie fruit in the freezer.

I'm clearly going to need to make an interim grocery stop this week, as well as prep some easy snacks for their return home each day . . . Who can resist these faces??

Weekly budget recap (7/11-7/17/16)

I try to recap our weekly spending whenever possible, and it helps me stay on track & understand risks & outliers. Here's what happened last week (I was on my belated 40th birthday trip with my sister & BFF in Napa for part of the time).

Monday - no spend day

Tuesday - no spend day
Wednesday - no spend day
Thursday

• $25.85 - breakfast food for hotel (Trader Joes)
• $11.72 - mints (giant bag, should last a few months) + ice for the cooler
• $8.00 - parking at the airport
• $.21 - lunch, after gift cards
• $53.66 - gas
• $59.02 - tasting for 3 at Chandon

Friday - 

• $38.74 - various Ubers in Napa
• $21.83 - dinner out (M & boys)
• $75.88 - happy hour for 3 (Napa)
• $55.08 - tasting for 3 at Mumm 

Saturday - 

• $212.50 - groceries at Costco
• $60.88 - mixing for drinks (BevMo)
• $41.97 - champagne (to drink later)
• $25.92 - champagne (to drink later)
• $42 - boys hair cuts x3
• $44.75 - school supplies for kids
• $924.22 - hotel two nights in Napa 
• $126.05 - clothes (a new dress, jeans, two tank tops, a sweater & a workout top)

Sunday - no spend day


Total spent = $1820.28, so a pricey week, but included a trip. How about you? How did you do with your weekly spending? 

Menu plan, Napa recap, & a few frugal things

I'm back from a fantastic girls trip to Napa. Lots of girl time was had, as well as lots of laughs. And champagne. ;-)

I threw together a quick menu, so I wouldn't be scrambling mid-week. Here's the plan.

• Saturday - beef kebabs, rice, yogurt sauce, & homemade lemon drops (courtesy of my lovely husband)
• Sunday - fresh Sockeye salmon with rice & salad
• Monday - leftover kebabs (me, kids), & salmon (M) with rice & salad
• Tuesday - at a concert (freebie tickets from work), where food will be served. Kids will eat with the sitter.
• Wednesday - Salmon, kebab & rice leftovers
• Thursday - tacos, chips, & guacamole
• Friday - homemade risotto (with chicken sausage & peppers)
• Saturday - calzones
• Sunday - grilled fish or steak

And, a few frugal things, in a decidedly non-frugal week:

• I was able to arrange (and participate) in carpools & adjust my work week so that I didn't need any after care at all last week. This will save me around $200.
• I utilized a free work gift card to buy lunch on my way to Napa. Saved $10 (out of pocket, $.21). :-)
• I utilized a free work gift card to buy $20 of bakery items when my friends were in town. Leftovers will go to the kids lunches this week. Out of pocket, $0.
• I found a nanny (fingers crossed! Waiting for final acceptance) & was able to negotiate for $1/hour less than what we are paying now. This is commensurate with her experience level, but every bit helps.
• We used an Uber to get back & forth between a few wineries. Much cheaper than other transportation options, and of course, safe when having a tasting.
• I won free tickets to the Barenaked Ladies concert tomorrow, in addition to a free parking pass & food/drink options. Not an entirely free date night (I paying for a sitter), but I'll take it. A huge win!

If I manage to secure a nanny for the upcoming school year, I will consider this week a huge win! What about you? What's on the menu? Any big frugal plans for the week?

Grocery spending numbers for the first half of 2016

The first half of the year is over, and I've been actively tracking our groceries by category for the entire year. It's been really helpful to see what throws us off.

For a quick visual representation, the breakout by category is as follows:

I was surprised by two of the categories - dairy & fruit. If you would have asked me at the beginning of the year, I would have been convinced that vegetables were our more expensive category. So, I will continue to use this data to ensure we are spending wisely in each category (no waste, best prices available, etc) & monitor our spend over time. I'm very happy to see that prepared food is such a tiny sliver of our budget. I'm pretty sure that was all frozen pizza while I was traveling. 

And, for actual numbers:

Total spend for the first half of the year = $3721.88

Spend per month = $620.31

People fed = 2 adults (working out approximately 5x/week), a 9 year old boy, a 10 year old boy who both play sports 5x/week

Fruit - $974.09

Meat/Fish - $749.03

Vegetables - $659.36

Dairy - $545.68

Pantry - $333.31

Snacks - $117.52

Prepared Food - $92.81

My goal will be to drive down our meat/fish spending, as well as dairy. Both have a relatively small amount of waste associated with it, but I think I can do better. With fruit, we're doing an admirable job of eating it all before it goes bad (or, freezing for smoothies), so I think our only options would be to consume less or to find a cheaper source. We buy at Costco, which, on average, is cheapest. Getting a cheaper per unit price would likely be more work than I can take on right on.

What about you? Are you tracking your grocery spend for the year? How are you doing against budget? Our budgeted spend is actually $550/month, so we are trending above that in the first half. Talk to me about groceries! They fascinate me, clearly. :-) 

Menu planning & a few frugal things

Coming back from vacation to an empty fridge makes for some tricky meals, but we've been managing. I now need to get much more organized!

Here's the plan for the rest of the week & looking ahead to next week:

Sunday - Salmon & rice
Monday - leftover risotto
Tuesday - leftover pizza
Wednesday - leftover salmon & rice
Thursday - I'll be out of town. M on his own with the boys
Friday - I'll be out of town. M on his own with the boys
Saturday - Grilled burgers & corn with our overnight guests
Sunday - grilled fish, rice & some sort of vegetable

I've been putting the house back in order, and have accomplished a few frugal things:

• Cleaned the house. Cleaning lady will come next Friday. I did train both boys how to clean bathrooms & dust (it's an ongoing process) & gave them a little spending money as a reward. Savings - $80
• No meals out. Made all of our meals this week, despite coming back from vacation to chaos. Savings, unknown.
• Reduced camp package for next week, as I was able to arrange a carpool. Savings ~$80
• Picked & juiced lemons, vs letting them go to waste in the fridge. This is mostly just for my own mental sanity of not having them loose in the fridge & feeling like I'm wasting a resource. But, we will make things.
• Came up with a plan to take a few drinks/snacks on my trip next weekend, to reduce costs.
• Found a free happy hour at the hotel we're staying at next weekend (belated 40th birthday girls trip) for Thursday & Friday night. Estimated savings vs going out - $60

Not a perfect week by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm always on the look out for ways to save, while maintaining a well balanced life. I'm off to do yoga!

What's on your menu for the week?

June budget recap - where did all of the money go?

June was a bit of an irregular budget month, as we refinanced our vacation house. We had some expenses related to that, but ended up getting a large chunk back in July (not reflected here, as it occurred in July).

Overall, we were under by $715. I'll take it!

Areas where we were over:

• Dining out - Over by $484! This was due to a variety of things. M's birthday, Father's Day, a celebration of the last day of school, and an overnight Father's Day trip. 
• Groceries - Over by $68. Not too bad, considering we hosted six extra people at our vacation house for 4 days. 
• Alcohol - over by $103. See above. Entertaining. :-) 
• Toiletries - Over by $8. Had to restock our vacation house with a few things. 

Areas where we were under budget:

• Childcare - Under by $270, due to being on vacation for a few weeks. 
• Cleaning - under by $180. Again, we were out of town & I did it myself. 
• Gas - $137.27 - I rode my bike in June, got a ride home from a long work trip, and rode with my Mom to the beach, and went carless for three days when we were on vacation. 
• Vacation house mortgage - Under by $633. We paid for the closing costs & appraisal, but it was less than our standard monthly payment. 
• Utilities - Under by $151. Summer is generally less for all of the bills.

And, we were right on (or, within $5) for our other categories: Entertainment, Insurance, Rent, etc. 

Given the multiple trips in June (two trips for me to Portland, a 10 day family vacation, an overnight trip to Monterey), I'm very happy with our spending. What about you? How did you do with your budget in June? 

2016 Goals - Mid Year Check In

I'm really going to have to up my game on a few of these to hit the goals by the end of the year!

1) Financial - Save $160,000 for my "leaving work" nest egg ($100K to offset expenses, $45K for taxes, $15K for travel) - I've saved $158,992, so I'm feeling really good about the amount. And, we paid our taxes, so I'm way over what I expected to be able to save. Of course, I decided to keep working at this job for a while longer while we sort out our house buying plan here. 

• Decide what to do with our Seattle house - we've decided to keep it as a rental investment. 
• Build/follow a 2016 "interim budget" (until I leave my job) - yes, although this is now just the 2016 budget. 
• Build/follow a 2016 "post-job budget" - scrapped this goal, as I'm staying for a while longer. 

2) Family - Spend more time together as a family! I give myself a pass on this one, but can definitely continue to improve. 

• Do a minimum of one fun activity/month with the kids - we've pretty much done this, although the cadence has been a bit more random. We've done some vacations together, but I'd like to start doing a few more regular local activities. 
• Be more present with the kids & M - play games, minimize computer time, exercise together, etc.  - Yes, I'd say we are doing well with this. Not perfect, and I have a goal to improve my evening computer time even more so than I am now. But, it's a big improvement over a year ago.
• Have two dates with M per month (one lunch, one evening) - We've done at least one per month, but I'd forgotten about the lunch dates. I just booked this as a reminder. Yeah! 

3) Fitness/health - Lose 20 pounds, bringing my weight to 133. Yes, I've gained weight since last year. Stress, eating poorly & no exercise will do that to you. - Definitely no. And, this needs to be a top priority, for my health. 

• Run a 5K, 10K, 15K, & a half marathon, as a 40th birthday gift to myself. Not all in the same day. ;-) - Oh my. I've run a 5K. Not sure about the rest. 
• Track my food/exercise every day. - Yes. 
• Eat five servings of fruit & vegetables (combined) per day - I'm averaging around 3.5
• Complete 10,000 minutes of cardio - I'm at 5290, so on track. 
• Complete 100 strength workouts. - I'm at 35, so well off the mark
• Complete 75 stretching workouts. - I'm at 19, so as above, well off the mark. 

4) Work/career - Improve my work life balance. - I've made improvements, but have a long way to go. I will do two things for the remainder of the year: actively work on stress management & continue to look for a new job within my own company that doesn't require travel or late evenings/managing a global team. 

• Keep better perspective at work/reduce stress (until I leave)
• Leave my job in June. - Readjusted, based on potentially buying a house. No longer a goal. 
• Take the summer off  - Readjusted, based on potentially buying a house. No longer a goal. 
• Find a new, flexible job in the fall.  - Readjusted, based on potentially buying a house. No longer a goal. 

5) Personal/creative - Spend more time on myself/creative pursuits. - I've spent lots of time with friends, and have definitely read over 50 books. Haven't made any progress on learning a new skill! That will be my area of focus for the back half of the year. 

• Learn a new skill. I'm thinking of learning a new language, but would be fine with anything: sewing, knitting, expanding my baking, etc. - No progress!
• Make time for my friends. Do something social at least once per month. - Yes!
• Read 50 books. - I have read over 50 so far, so crushed this one!

So, in summary, my fitness needs to be a top priority, as does balancing family time with work. No surprise that these are all heavily connected. What about you? How are you doing with your 2016 goals, with the year half over? 

July Goals

I have one long weekend planned, so I'll have less days available to "get things done" this month. On the plus side, the boys don't have soccer on the weekends, so that should free up some time as well.

Finances:

• Stick to our budget
• Save $2,000, in addition to our stock vests
• Put $50/each in the boys college funds

Family:

• Have one date night with M
• Donate, sell or toss 50 items in the house.
• Clean the garage!
• Find a nanny. This is a must do!

Fitness:

• Lose 2 pounds. Seriously. 
• Eat 5 servings of fruits & vegetables 
• Complete 5 stretching workouts (yoga or pilates)
• Complete 7 strength workouts
• Complete 800 minutes of cardio
• Average 1350 calories/day
• 12 pace walks for my adventure relay

Work/Career:

• Maximum of one late night/week
• Work from home at least one Friday this month
• Explore other work options at my existing company

Personal/Creative:

• Read four books
• Girls weekend in Napa. My belated 40th birthday trip. Should be fantastic!

And, that's it. What about you? What is on your list for July? 

June Goal Recap

It was a pretty good month for getting things done. Let's check it out.

Finances:

• Stick to our budget - Yes! We were under by $715. I'll do a more detailed financial update soon. 
• Finish refinancing our vacation house, moving to a 30 year loan to free up more cash flow for a California house - yes!
• Save $2,000, in addition to our stock vests - yes, we've saved $3500
• Put $50/each in the boys college funds - Done!

Family:

• Have two date nights with M - yes! Helped greatly by my parents having the boys for 5 nights. 
• Plan something special for Father's Day - Yes! We went to Monterey for a night & stayed on the beach. It was fabulous.
• Make multiple trips to donate items  - Yes, all done with that batch.
• Clean the garage! - Well, some progress was made. ;-) 

Fitness:

• Lose 2 pounds - oh my. No. Vacation at the end of the month undid any & all progress earlier in the month. 
• Eat 5 servings of fruits & vegetables - I'm hanging at 3.5 & need to figure out how to raise this to at least 4 in July.
• Complete 5 stretching workouts (yoga or pilates) - close. Four stretching workouts. 
• Complete 7 strength workouts - I did four strength workouts. 
• Complete 800 minutes of cardio - Oh yes! I did 990 minutes of cardio. 
• Average 1350 calories/day - 1577/day, with the majority of the overage happening on my vacation. 
• Start training for my adventure relay, with 12 pace walks - yes! 

Work/Career:

• Maximum of one late night/week - yes! 
• Work from home at least three Fridays this month - I didn't manage it at all in June, but was out for a few days here & there on vacations, which makes this harder. 
• Explore other work options at my existing company - I've checked around, but so far haven't seen anything that's a fit. 

Personal/Creative:

• Read four books - Yes
• Get together with a friend - Yes, saw my BFF & sister/BFF last weekend & have a family vacation planned as well

A few outliers, as always, but a very, very good month. My vacation was fantastic - so enjoyed the time off & time with the family. Now it's back to reality. :-) How did you do with your June goals? What do you have in mind for July?